Leicester rampant as City ripped apart

Last updated : 12 December 2016 By Omar Laska

Manchester City were torn apart by Claudio Ranieri's Leicester City, who smashed four past Pep Guardiola's side.

City looked out of their depth from the start, as Jamie Vardy ended his goal drought with a finish across Claudio Bravo into the bottom corner, Andy King then made it 2-0 with a half volley from the edge of the area. Bravo got a hand to it, but it wasn't enough as the Foxes went 2-0 up within the first five minutes.

From there the Citizens never recovered, they were sloppy going forward and shambolic defensively. The deficit worsened by Vardy's 2nd goal in the 20th minute, rounding Bravo for a simple finish, as Aleksandar Kolarov occupied what appeared a left wing back/left midfield role. Leaving John Stones and Bacary Sagna both completely exposed to the lighting speed and ferocity of the Leicester counter attack.

There was an improvement toward the end of the 1st half, and at the beginning of the 2nd there appeared to be some structure to the line up. But Leicester were in a ruthless mood. Vardy sealing his hat trick after latching onto a hapless John Stones backpass to again round Bravo and score from an incredibly tight angle, despite the efforts of Sagna. The ball had rolled all the way over the line by the time the Frenchman had cleared away. 

It looked like it was going to be a cricket score, however late goals from Aleksandar Kolarov, a free kick from the edge of the Leicester penalty area, and Nolito, a simple finish from close range, made it a slightly more respectable scoreline. The latter should have made it 4-3 moments later, but a scrappy finish went narrowly wide. 

With City still yet to find a win in December, pressure is building on Guardiola to show the sort of form that had made City the early pace setters, and title favourites. With the club now seven points behind leaders Chelsea, Wednesday's game against a Watford side fresh off a 3-2 win over Everton is looking increasingly like a must win game.